If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Threaded View

Fireants!!!!!

(quote from my post that led another thread off-topic, copied here to be "on-topic" and de-clutter the other thread)

.....Anyone know any good GENOCIDAL tricks for committing great atrocities & war-crimes against Red Imported Fire Ants? At first I thought it was stresses I placed on the first hive during removal that caused it to collapse in my hive box, but today, when I went to check on my wonderfully gently new hive, I found the dastardly culprits red handed! There were streams of THOUSANDS of the little demons running up and down THREE LEGS of my stand for the new hive, carrying death into my hive box, and little pieces of my bees' precious brood back out and into the pits of hell (their mounds) with them.
Upon opening the hive, I found that the ants had already killed or chased off about 99.5% of my living bees; had removed ALL of the uncapped brood (both eggs and larvae); had killed most of the remaining bees except for one little group of about 50 bees who were all back-to-back in a defensive circle, still battling hopelessly against the invaders; and they had even begun de-capping the capped brood, and killing them before they could emerge!
In the past I've combatted the fire ants on my property with: Permethrin (I used almost 40gal of mixed-down permethrin treating for them last year); Amdro (3-4 2.5lb boxes, each labeled to treat 2.5acres, still didn't work for my 1.5ac lot); Seven 5% dust; and about 15-20gal of Diesel Fuel and Gasoline dumped on their mounds when I didn't have any other killing agents handy. Does ANYONE have a PROVEN EFFECTIVE method for exterminating these little boogers, and keeping them gone for a while???

I'm at an impasse here; if I can't get these ants under control, my career as an apiarist might have already reached a premature end.